Slow Cooker Chunky Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 kg of Chuck Beef, cut into 2-3 cm cubes
- 3 large potatoes (peeled and chopped into chunks)
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups beef stock
- 2 bay leaves Fresh flat parsley
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp each – dried oregano, thyme and rosemary
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ cup flour
Method
Heat olive oil in a frypan over medium heat. Season your beef with salt and pepper and then brown in your pan (approx. 2-3 minutes).
Place beef, potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic into your slow cooker. Add your beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, rosemary, paprika, oregano and bay leaves. Stir until combined. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.
Remove ½ cup of the broth, and whisk together with the flour in a bowl. Return to slow cooker, stir and then cook on high for an additional 30 minutes to thicken your stew.
Once ready, garnish with parsley.
Blueberry Pie
Ingredients
-
1 sheet shortcrust pastry
-
1 sheet puff pastry
-
¾ cup white sugar
-
¼ cup cornflour
-
2 tsp lemon zest
-
½ tsp salt
-
½ tsp ground cinnamon
-
6 cups frozen blueberries, thawed and drained
-
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small squares
-
1 egg yolk
-
2 tbsp of milk
Method
Fill the your pie dish with a layer of shortcrust pastry. Place in fridge, while you prepare the filling.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cornflour, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt. Gently stir in the blueberries. Place the filling in the pie crust.
To make your lattice crust, cut 10 strips of puff pastry to the desired width, we’ve gone with thin lengths, but if you’d prefer more pastry – you can make them wider.
Lay five strips evenly spaced over the top of the pie. Fold back the second and fourth strips and lay another across the other strips still covering the pie filling. Place the second and fourth strips back down over the pie and then fold back the first, third and fifth strips. Place another puff pastry strip over the top of those left on the pie, return the strips back down and repeat this process, until the pie has been covered. Pinch the sides of the crust and puff pastry together, trim excess.
Whisk the egg and add the milk to create your egg wash. Brush over puff pastry. Sprinkle sugar over the top. Freeze for 5 minutes before baking on the lower shelf of your oven at 190°C for about 55 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
